The Salute
by TheAeacusProject
Summary: Generation 2-inspired poems. One for each character.
1. The Salute

**A/N:** This started as a one-off and I was in the middle of writing an update for a different story when the idea to expand this a bit hit me. So, yeah. Nine poems eventually. Sorry, Karen. I'll let you all decide who matches up with which poem 'cause there's no fun in me telling!

"The Salute"

It was at summer's end the salute was made,  
When we found ourselves drawn again down by the lake,  
Nestled 'round a crackling fire's glow amidst the shade the old elm made.  
And curled up close on the veranda the couples laid  
Their bodies spooned together for extra warmth and care just beyond the fire's gaze,  
Eyes flashing in the night on porch and limb and chair through smoky haze  
While from inside a song implied for us it was time to turn the page.

But before our muddled minds molded to that morose malaise,  
That dire desire to discard the defining decisions of younger days,  
Over the lake there was a burst, a wild cannonade.  
Arcs and sparks of yellow, orange, blue, and grey turned velvet night to rainbow day  
And just a second later the illumination began to fade,  
Trails of fire petered to the crests of waves idling beyond our shaded glade.

As we sat transfixed anticipating a second burst and leaving s'mores unmade,  
Little did I know that youth's fire with summer burns away.  
And if not for James, it would have been simple for the rest of us to remain ignorant of the same.  
But his voice called clearly, sharp as a tempered blade  
Descending down from the porch rooftop on which he laid:  
"Live every day so that you leave no regrets upon your grave."

There was a silence that received his sentiment with warm embrace  
Then one by one each of us smiled and with a feeling eerily arcane,  
A feeling that brought all together with glasses raised  
A toast, a taken shot as we proclaimed:  
"Youth always wasted, always faded is never wasted, never faded."


	2. The Cold Forest

"Cold Forest"

They say the eye is  
The calmest part of the storm  
But I know better  
There's no wind or rain  
But you drive yourself  
Crazy just knowing  
There's danger a foot away  
While there's nothing I can do  
Nothing I can do  
'Cause I'm surrounded by the storm

Lightning flashing  
Cold rain lashing  
What am I feeling?  
Echoed thunder  
I stop and wonder  
Why aren't I screaming?  
Because I've never been in  
A world quite as dangerous  
As this one is now  
Now that I've met you

I hear them say  
Relax, yeah relax and let it ride  
But I know better  
There's no sign no indication  
Of the surer path to follow  
And I've never ventured in this far  
The woods are dark and somber  
But now the moonlight's coming through  
And maybe it carries hope  
To lead me through

Just like that the light is gone  
Nothing visible  
All's black and grey  
Under menacing branches above  
I'm truly in a cold forest  
Nowhere to turn  
No cave in which to hide

Come out and face me  
I'll answer the challenge,  
Go all the way  
To your lair deep in these woods  
And beat you at your own game  
This isn't a one-sided affair  
And if it's a fight you want  
A battle you need to  
Quench your bloodlust  
I'll give it to you  
And more.  
Next time, you should  
Be more careful  
Which victim you lure to your trap.

This one's walking out alive.


	3. Photographic Memory

"Photographic Memory"

I've always been one to paint a scene  
Could tell you every detail  
Not just date, place, and time  
I recall the words and laughter too  
The expressions and conversations of nine kids with nothing better to do

And that's what has always made it difficult  
To step back and walk away  
'Cause not only do I remember it,  
I play it back each and every day

I search for clues or phrases  
And lament the moments missed,  
Recall the way your hair fell  
Or the playful smile on your lips.

And it only makes things worse  
That I was invisible that night.  
Then I realize the truth:  
You were captivated by another  
In my mind is all the proof


	4. Intervention

"Intervention"

You don't know when it's coming

You don't know how or why.

It comes just at the strangest time

When it seems it has passed you by

You're reeling and unwilling,

It seems you've read things wrong.

The people you once thought good

Really couldn't care if you were gone.

Chips fall in ways you can't see

And hands play out, you lose the bet.

Still you struggle to line things up

Until you find the person you haven't met.

If that sounds like a riddle,

Then that should be an indication

That I'm working to find a rhythm

Put a beat to this compilation.

Yeah, it's a combination of feelings

Mixed up and scattered about—

Big eddies, little ripples, strange currents

Trying to drown the lingering doubt.

'Cause giving it a chance, that's the only way,

The only route to redemption I can see.

In the chase for something never had

A brand new start's an intervention.


	5. Sickness

"Sickness"

I've never had it this bad  
And it gets worse every day  
And I don't know whether it's the feeling of inevitability  
Or if it's the dusk of failure,  
But either way there'll be no final flash  
No memorable sunset.

It started as a nagging in the back of my mind  
Wondering why I should even try  
Or if you shone like fool's gold  
And it kept eating away at my defenses  
Like that very hungry caterpillar

But this isn't a children's book  
It's the worst sort of parable  
This isn't a fable from days of old  
And I've never heard a fairytale that ends like this  
With me on the front porch and the two of you upstairs

And now this nagging has become a gnawing pain  
Tearing right through the middle of me  
Roiling around and twisting me up in triple knots  
But I know how it feels to be an Exile  
'Cause it's almost a good pain that I'm goin' through

I'm all sorts of out of character  
If you'd only look closely you'd see it  
Flowing over me like a little river  
And it never hit me quite like this  
Now I'm curled up in a ball  
And I'm furiously penning these poems  
Even though I know you'll never seem them

When does this end?  
Do I even want that?


End file.
